The True Measure of Character and Confidence

by Sokai

She successfully learned that no one can make her feel inferior without her consent. Now, she'll soon learn that having courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace. They all will. /SEQUEL TO 'BARBIE: PRINCESS CHARM SCHOOL'\

2. Chapter One: Settling In and Revelations

The True Measure of Character and Confidence

By: Sokai

Disclaimer: I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of Rainmaker Entertainment, in relation to their "Barbie" movie series (or, indeed, anything else of their creation), specifically (in this particular case), "Barbie: Princess Charm School." However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM said movie.

Note: Holy crap, my older sister had pointed out something to me quite valid about Delancy the other day, after she had watched the movie for herself: Delancy looks like Shakira. SO damned true, it's ridiculous! I KNEW she looked like SOMEONE to me, and it kept eating away at me as I watched the movie the first time around, especially once she let her hair down at the end.

No wonder I believe her to be the most attractive and adorable looking of the young girls featured within this movie, next to Isla. =) Someone ought to let Miss Shakira know about this movie and have her watch it in order to cast her own judgment about her lookalike. LoL

Anyhow, fairly slow, but slightly growing interest within this overall tale of mine, but that's all right. Like I said before, I believe, I'm mainly doing it for my own personal intrigue, as this movie has 'sequel potential' written all over it. Who knows? Maybe if it grows within popularity, the peeps at Rainmaker may approach me to buy the rights to THIS (sequel, that is). =)

'Till then, feel free to enjoy this rather long (although no surprise, since it's me), twenty-eight pager, those bothering to read it.

Oh, right. And just like Blair's mom, Dame Devin, and Portia's made up family and given first names, I'd also done the same to a briefly mentioned 'Pawdicurist Sprite,' seeing as that seemed to be the only sort of 'name' she'd been given within the movie . . . or credits, anyway, and I'd also done the same to Portia's parents (who also possess car names, yes), as I'd gone into a further detail about the girl and her personal life.

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This chapter was created/written in September 2011.

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Chapter One: Settling In, and Revelations

When Blair had awakened the following morning, she had honestly believed that she had somehow lost her hearing, perhaps due to all of the ongoing, boisterous theatrics and loud music, courtesy of Isla, which she had continued to play throughout most of the previous evening.

For when she sleepily cracked one eye open, and consciousness slowly returned to her, she was met with an eerie silence all about the entire dorm room, and indeed, the rest of the dormitory hall.

It wasn't until she could then begin to hear the faint, although still noticeable breathing of her younger sibling, Emily, did Blair finally realize that her hearing was quite fine as always, as well as the precise reason as to why it was so resoundingly quiet.

". . . . Everyone's gone," she murmured softly to herself with slight melancholy, lightly rubbing at her blue eyes, before slowly sitting up within her large bed so as not to disturb the continually slumbering girl at her side.

She let out a faint sigh upon surveying the dorm room, and saw that both Hadley and Isla's beds were empty, already made up, with each of their unique possessions taken down from off of the walls, as well. A slight stinging of her heart occurred in that moment, as Blair realized that neither one of her friends had bothered to wait around a little while longer in order to say goodbye.

". . . . Guess we're on our own, now," she whispered within slight sadness, turning her attention back onto a contently slumbering Emily, and gently stroked the top of her brown colored head, which was now free from the familiar pigtailed hairstyle she'd normally fashion her neck length hair into.

Just then, a soft knock could be heard against the sealed, pink colored door to Blair's dorm room, which admittedly caused her heart to jump within surprise, before settling into a feeling of joyful hope that it perhaps could have been one, or more preferably, the both of her already sorely missed comrades returning to retrieve something of theirs.

Or, perhaps, even to remain at the charm school and Gardanian Palace with her . . . she hoped, admittedly a bit foolishly, anyhow.

Gingerly climbing out of her shared bed with her sister, who just then sleepily rolled away from her and onto her other side to evidently continue on within her slumber, Blair smiled warmly toward her a moment before quietly rushing to the door to open it.

"I was hoping you two would come ba -" she began within a hushed, although excited voice as she eagerly opened the dormitory room door and expecting to see her cheerful companions waiting on the other side, before promptly cutting herself off once her crisp blue eyes met with no one of the sort.

No one, that is, except for Delancy, and even a returned Grace, the both of them looking rather sheepish and apologetic, perhaps for having possibly awakened the other girl.

"Gooood morning, Blair! D-Doh, I mean, Princess!" Grace, the first one to speak, greeted cheerfully, before swiftly amending herself, her tiny face immediately flooding with undeniable abashment.

Blair softly chuckled at this, before also briefly waving one of her hands into the air within a downwards motion, signifying to the young, pink haired Sprite to lower her voice.

"O-Oops! Sorry about that, Your Royal Highness!" Grace apologetically began within the same voice level, before finishing her sentence within a soft whisper.

"Not to worry, Grace; my sister, Emily can generally sleep through pretty much anything, even, perhaps, an earthquake. Buttt, just to be on the safe side," Blair replied gently with a grin, before carefully stepping out of the dorm room and into the otherwise empty hall, closing the door behind her. "There! Now there's really no need for any furthered concern!"

"Understood, Your Royal Highness, and good morning to you," Delancy remarked with a kind smile and familiar curtsy, causing Blair to softly blush at the continued parade of courtesy the two females before her were bestowing.

"O-Oh, good morning to you, too, Delancy! And please, both of you, you really don't need to keep on with the whole 'Your Royal Highness' and 'Princess' formalities - And especially not the curtsying! I'm still the same old me . . . I just happen to now be ruler of an entire country, that's all," the sunlit blonde joked with a crooked smile, reaching out to gently rest a hand onto Delancy's shoulder as the other girl straightened her posture once more. "And besides, if anyone looks more like Royalty right now, it'd definitely be you!"

It was true.

While Blair presently looked as she always would every morning (either back within her old bedroom at her family's equally antiquated apartment, or there at the charm school), comfortably adorned within a pink and gold trimmed, short sleeved 'Tee-Jama,' with matching boxers and socks, Delancy, on the other hand, looked like a glorified vision . . . like she always did, in all honesty, to Blair, at least.

A form-fitting, orchid colored and ruffle-front dress shirt complimented her torso and bare neck, while a plum tinted pencil skirt attired her bottom and sheltered the tucked in remainder of her top. A considerably modest, although still quite flattering pair of violet pointed toe stilettos adorned Delancy's petite sized and flesh hued, pantyhose covered feet . . . and her hair, so quite commonly within the curly topped, elegant updo, was once again styled within the free flowing, lightly wavy hairdo as the previous night.

As she silently marveled at the other girl's overall appearance, Blair also fleetingly began to wonder if the sudden, preferred change within hairstyle did not perhaps have less to do with the recent coronation ball, and more so to do with the fact that Delancy's former 'do' had also been that of her mother's.

The reminder would probably be too much for her to handle right now, the blonde thought within sympathetic understanding, reaching up to lightly scratch at her greatly disheveled, long locks, a fact which only further aided within her ongoing embarrassment.

". . . . Thank you . . . Blair," Delancy spoke with a soft smile, her own, softly toasted skin earning a light rouge to them by her princess's compliment, as she just managed to stop herself from referring to her by any of her royal titles, or even her birth name. "And as for the 'formalities,' as you put it, it's simply a force of habit, I guess, as I grew up learning them, after all . . . but, I suppose I can forgo them whenever it's just the two of us - Or three of us, as the case may be, counting Grace. A-Anyhow! Did you sleep well, at least? Hadley and Isla told us that you guys didn't actually get to sleep until around two o'clock, this morning. . . ."

Blair grinned shamefacedly at this, beginning to stretch, as though on cue, and at the same time promptly raising a hand to her mouth to shield it away from her two friends as she let out a light yawn.

"Mmmm . . . sorry. I guess I'm still feeling a little bit tired," she remarked with a nod, before raising a golden eyebrow within intrigue at the mention of her two missing best friends. "Did you say that you got to talk to Isla and Hadley . . . before they had to leave the charm school with everyone else?"

Seeing the other blonde's mixed feelings over the news, it was Delancy's turn to place a hand upon her shoulder, although awkwardly so, as she blindly reached into one of the pockets within her skirt and smiled.

"Yes, we did, and as a final act as your 'Princess Personal Assistant,' Grace, here, had been asked to deliver this letter of goodbye to you from the girls," she revealed, just as she finished carefully pulling out the vanilla colored and neatly folded piece of parchment in question, and kindly handed it over to a now beaming Blair. "Seeing as it might have been a bit much for her to carry all the way back up here to the dorm rooms, though, I thought that I'd give her a hand."

"Well, it would've been a lot less heavy than the care package Blair's sister had sent to her a while back, and I had to lug up here all by myself . . . b-but it was no biggie, of course!" Grace gushed with a crooked smile and wave of her miniscule sized hands, as she continued to effortlessly flutter high within the air at Delancy's side.

Blair didn't want to be rude by immediately opening up Hadley and Isla's presumably joint letter and read it right in front of her two remaining companions; however, she'd found the temptation to be far too great.

And so, with a quick "Thank you" within response to both girls' efforts, she quickly opened the small letter and began to read, aloud, as though within slight compromise with herself over her current actions.

"'Dear Blair, or should we say 'Princess Sophia' from now on? If there's one thing for certain which we all can be sure of, though, it's that this past semester has been the most adventurous undertaking of our entire lives. At least, definitely for me and Hadley, hands down,'" Blair began with a growing smile, gazing down upon Isla's neat and slightly slanted penmanship, as she continued to recite her handwritten letter aloud, "'and we can both honestly tell you that neither of us will ever forget even a moment's worth of it. Best of all? We now have our own sort of 'legend' to tell about the history of Gardania, too! Just think, years from now, each of our future descendants will regale everyone around, all about how the princesses of Lyricia and Sportania helped return the long lost princess of Gardania to her rightful throne. . . . Until then, though, it's off to each of our own kingdoms, where Hadley will most likely continue to wreak havoc upon all of the fancy dishes and silverware lurking within her palace walls, thanks to now being able to kick that soccer ball of hers around, no matter the attire or situation . . . and as for me, I'm thinking about maybe installing a new 'Nightly Ball' regime over at mine, just so I can never be without a steady surplus of audiences to test all of my latest tunes on! Because, honestly, how fun was our graduation? Anyway, whatever you intend to enforce now, yourself, as ruler over the lucky citizens of Gardania, Blair, Hadley and I both know you'll do wonderfully . . . especially with equally wonderful people like Delancy and the rest of your family by your side as you do. . . . Hope to see you again real soon! All our love, Isla and Hadley. . . .'"

"Awwww. . . ." Grace cooed with a light clasping of her miniature sized hands before slowly raising them to one side of her face, as both Blair, as well as Delancy immediately began to blush over the now absent princesses' sentiments regarding them both.

"Y-Yeah, really," Blair managed to murmur within concurrence as Delancy merely nodded, watching the cornflower haired girl gently refold the letter and held it tenderly in between her palms. "Now, I'm really gonna miss them. . . . I just wish that one of them could have woken me up so that I could seen them - Seen everyone off. . . ."

Delancy smiled gently within understanding, moving to her newly discovered relative's side, just as Grace followed suit on the other.

"Well, they'd said that they didn't want to wake you, especially in case it would have awakened your sister in the process, as well," she revealed with another nod, slowly raising a hand into the air as she lightly shrugged. "And besides, trying to wake up at six o'clock in order to be ready to leave the school by seven, after only having had four hours or so of sleep the previous evening would be hard on anyone. Frankly, I'm surprised that both Isla and Hadley had managed to get up on t -"

"- W-Wait a sec, Delancy! You said the girls all left at seven o'clock, right? Well, what time is it now, anyway?" Blair interjected quickly, wrinkling her nose within distress, as she had a strong feeling she wasn't going to like the answer, especially not at having seen the dishwater blonde next to her already completely dressed for the current day and so wide-eyed, as though having been awake for hours on end by that time.

Seeming to have read her mind, Delancy nervously chuckled before stating, ". . . . Almost noon . . . o-okay, so more like almost half past eleven, really. . . . But I have been up since five, this morning, honestly, just getting a few things done for the new day ahead of time."

"Well that makes me feel a whole lot worse!" Blair groaned with a grimace, startled to learn that she had been allowed to sleep for so long. This was the latest she had ever woken up, not only since having first arrived to the charm school, but indeed many years in general, having always been more so of an early bird, but also most recently due to her busy working schedule at the Café Gardania.

Delancy grinned sheepishly at her princess and softly shrugged once more before tilting her head a bit, causing a few strands of her caramel blonde hair to delicately cascade over her right shoulder in the process.

"Well, like I said, it sometimes isn't easy to just get up on a dime like that, so don't worry about it," she began with a growing smile, straightening her posture once again, "and I went ahead and made sure to send your regards to the rest of the ladies before they each departed, as well. Some of them had even left their own contact information, as well, just in case you'd wish to keep in touch with any of them, alongside Isla and Hadley. I've already placed them within the digital address book I'd taken the liberty of setting up for you within your new bedchambers back at the palace, if that's okay."

Blair blinked within surprise at this, before smiling crookedly within mixed embarrassment and guilt.

"O-Oh, well, thank you, as always, Delancy, but you didn't have to go through all that trouble on my behalf," she said a bit awkwardly, the newfound situation and roles Life had thrust both girls into still not yet sinking in for her quite fully. "I'm just so used to doing everything for myself, or, primarily for others, like Emily and my mom, you know?"

". . . . And I've been so accustomed to pretty much everything being done for me, truthfully," Delancy admitted softly, although her rich brown eyes reflected no malice about it. She then smiled shyly as she added, "It . . . feels pretty good, though, doing things on my own for a change, and on behalf of others."

"And boy, has she been doing a lot of things 'on behalf of others,' Blair, and just within the last few hours, alone!" Grace suddenly piped up with glee, swiftly gliding closer to the two girls in order to place herself in between them both. "Delancy's already managed to do so much more in one day than all of us Sprites could possibly do in a week, it seems like, the way I've watched her go back and forth all over the palace, and here at the school, taking care of various things! Trust me when I tell you that you've definitely picked yourself an awesome Lady Royal! She even already looks the part now, too, with those gorgeous clothes of hers!"

Now feeling tremendously abashed, perhaps even more so than Blair, herself, Delancy quickly moved away from both remaining females and timidly looked away, down at the floor and towards her stylish pumps.

"I-It wasn't anything major, Grace, Blair!" she stated within rushed awkwardness, before gazing back up at her cousin and continued. "I was already awake, so I just figured why not get a few things done, although most had already been taken care of. That is, for me and today, at least, what it originally was going to be, anyway . . . so I just had some things moved around and postponed a bit, in order to give you more time to get adjusted. And anyway, I can't take all of the credit: Grace, and even Wickellia had helped me out a bit, too, even though all of the other Sprites have already gone back to their homes within the meadow nearby, now that the semester has concluded . . . and even though I was never honestly all that kind to her. Wickellia, I mean . . . or even you, either, Grace, whenever our paths would cross. I'm really sorry about that. . . ."

Grace immediately flew over to the clearly ashamed Lady Royal standing before her, a renewed flurry of magenta and white colored enchanted sparkles trailing behind her as she did so.

"Aww, hey, come on, now, Delancy. Chin up! 'Poise,' remember?" the pink haired Sprite reminded with a sympathetic smile, before it widened into a grin as she then gently patted the side of Delancy's left cheek. "There! And anyway, you've already apologized to me, and to Wickellia only about a billion times all morning! The semester's over, now, so if neither of us no longer cared to help you help Blair out – Especially since, you know, that's kinda more so solely your job now, after all – then we could have easily have headed on home with the rest of the Sprites!"

Delancy, who now felt truly touched by Grace's kind words (and, unbeknownst to them both, as did a continually silent Blair), blushed lightly with a returned smile upon her smooth visage.

"Thanks, Grace," she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper, as Blair then moved closer to her to rest a hand upon her shoulder once more.

"This is a big change for all of us, Delancy. But I think that, so long as we just remember what we've been taught this past semester and stick together, we should be all right," the sunlit haired girl said reassuringly with a smile of her own, as she watched both of her friends give a simple nod of apparent agreement. "Now . . . speaking of Wickellia, where is she?"

"Back over at the 'Luxury Spa' starting to set things up for both you and Emily, seeing as the 'Pawdicurist Sprite,' Belle, had also already gone," Grace explained with a light raise of her shoulders and hands as she turned to face her former mistress of sorts. "She was going to stick around a little while longer earlier this morning before leaving, but since you and your sister never got around to waking up until much, much later, we just let her go and - D-Doh! Sorry about that. . . ."

Blair shook her messy 'bedhead,' giggling lightly at her quite diminutive friend.

"That's okay, Grace. It's my fault for having woken up so late, after all," she said with an apologetic smile, before turning towards her dorm room door to reopen it. "Anyway, guess we'd better wake up Emily, and get the day started! Wouldn't want to keep our mom waiting on us for any -"

"- Blair! There you are! Good . . . morning!" Emily abruptly interrupted her older, adopted sister with a light yawn in between, the moment the door opened and the two caught sight of one another. She felt her cheeks grow hot as soon as the trio of females now standing before her lightly began to chuckle curiously toward her. ". . . . W-What?"

Following their gaze, Emily looked down, towards her appearance from where she stood at the foot of Blair's now disheveled bed, and realized that the pink plaid nightshirt her sibling had given to her to sleep within during the previous night was now presently drooping a bit off to one side of her petite sized body.

"I guess my pajamas really were a bit too big for you to wear, after all," Blair said in between tittering, moving further into the dorm room to help straighten the oversized nightwear upon Emily's small frame, before giving her a warm hug within greeting, and carefully setting down Isla and Hadley's letter to her onto her nearby nightstand. "But that's all right! It was only for one night! Later on today, we'll just head back to our old home to gather yours and Mom's things to move into the palace."

"Oooh, I still can't believe that! Me, now living within the Gardanian Palace!" Emily squealed within delight as she returned her sister's embrace.

Blair nodded with a smirk, before gently ruffling the top of the other girl's brunette colored head, messing it up a bit more as a result.

"Yes, but first things first! Bath time, then breakfast! Or nearly lunch, at this point," she stated as she pulled away, turning around to slowly lead her younger sibling out of the dormitory room. "You remember meeting Grace last night, right? She'll take you to the 'Luxury Spa,' so don't dawdle, all right? Mom must probably be wondering where we are, by now, I'm sure."

Emily abruptly stopped within her tracks a moment right then, as she curiously gazed up at the older girl.

"Well, aren't you coming with us?" she asked naturally, before resuming her walk and exited the dorm room and into the otherwise empty hall.

Blair nodded slowly, before oddly fixing her gaze upon a politely silent Delancy, who blinked within surprise as a result.

"Yeah, I'll be along in a little bit, Sis. I just . . . have a few things to discuss with my new Lady Royal, that's all," she revealed with a soft smile, before giving one last hug to Emily, who then merely gave a shrug within satisfaction.

"Okay, then. Well, come on, Grace! Now's my chance to get another early preview of my hopeful future here at the charm school!" she stated with a broad, excited grin towards the continually fluttering, pink themed Sprite now beside her, before abruptly taking off down the secluded hallway with a giggling Grace in tow.

"I have a feeling that she's going to adjust just fine here," Blair commented within amusement, as both she and Delancy watched after Emily charging down the hall and further away from them. She then returned her attention onto her premiere cousin, who now appeared to be a bit tense. "Now that we're alone, you and I can talk. . . ."

". . . . What about?" Delancy asked a bit hesitantly, beginning to wonder after whatever it was she could have possibly already screwed up upon as Blair's newfound advisor.

Seeming to be upon the same train of thought as the other blonde, Blair promptly shook her head and beamed generously back at her, and reached out to place a hand upon her sheltered forearm.

"Oh! N-No, it isn't anything related to my new job as a princess, or your new job as a lady royal or anything like that!" she reassured, before extending her free hand out towards the still open doorway to her dorm room. "I just . . . well, thought that maybe we could talk for a little bit before breakfast, that's all. You know . . . like, in the 'Getting to Know You' sort of way. . . ."

Delancy, whom Blair expected to enter her soon-to-be former bedroom after today in that moment, merely remained where she was, rooted firmly within her spot at her side. This, coupled by the other girl's now steadily widening brown eyes only served within making Blair feel as though naked, and utterly foolish for having made such an admitted request.

"O-Oh . . . or, maybe not, then. I mean, we don't ha -" she began within sheepish amendment, before Delancy, seeming to have at last snapped out of her previous reverie, swiftly cut her off.

"- No! I mean, no, you don't have to worry or apologize for anything, Blair," she said with a shake of her head, before suddenly taking on the appearance of a small, timid child, as she awkwardly bit the corner of her ruby tinted lips and gently tucked a few strands of her caramel blonde hair behind her left ear. "That is to say . . . that that'd be nice, thank you. . . . I mean, I suppose there's no better time than the present, right? Especially given our newfound circumstances, and all. . . ."

As Blair watched within relief as her former nemesis of sorts then made her way, a bit slowly, into her dorm room, she began to marvel at the drastic shift within personality Delancy seemed to have undergone, all in less than two days.

She's always given off this strong air of seemingly never-ending confidence this whole time, and never seemed second guessing about anything. Now . . . it's sort of like we've traded places, not only within formerly intended positions in life, but within personality, as well, as she seems to be losing some of that confidence, just when I've finally begun to acquire more for myself, the blonde mused with a slowly raised eyebrow at the mental reflection, before re-entering her room after Delancy. But, then . . . I don't suppose I could blame her, really. After all, it isn't every day you learn that one of your parents is . . . a murderer. . . .

"Please . . . have a seat anywhere, if you can excuse the slight mess, anyway," Blair said with an apologetic smile after closing the bedroom door, before rushing forward to pick up a few of the leisure magazines she, her sister, and her two former roommates had been reading the other night from off of the lilac colored floor.

She then moved towards her still unmade bed, and attempted to fix it with her remaining free hand, while Delancy silently watched her a moment before speaking again.

"Really, Blair . . . you don't need to go through all this trouble for me like this. By comparison, your dorm room is spic n span to what Portia's looked like by the time I'd left her last night. In fact, I'm sure everyone's dorm rooms looked the same as hers, now that classes were over and the after parties continued," she remarked with a small smile, before moving toward her slightly blushing cousin to gingerly retrieve the small stack of magazines from out of her hand, and replaced them onto the small desk at the foot of the girl's bed.

"Thanks for that," Blair said within appreciation and a smile of her own, before continuing to make up her bed, a lot faster now, now that her other hand was free.

She paused a moment, however, as she struggled to think of what to say next . . . although, it wasn't honestly that she hadn't the foggiest what to talk about. There was a lot presently on her mind which she'd wished to discuss with the other girl, indeed, since last night.

However, it was merely the execution which currently eluded her, as Blair wasn't entirely sure how to begin that specific topic of conversation without possibly offending, or emotionally harming Delancy in any sort of way.

And so, for the moment, at least, she decided to forgo any attempts, and instead decided to start off small.

". . . . Sooo . . . did you have fun hanging out with Portia one last time, then?" Blair asked as casually as she could manage, gazing upon her cousin fleetingly before resuming her previous efforts to finish making up her bed.

Delancy smiled reflectively at this and nodded, before moving over to the other side of Blair's mattress and began to help her along.

"Yeah, I did, actually, thanks. We ended up eating a lot of 'Floor Cakes,' as she now calls any cupcake that she sees, and watched a bunch of movies . . . that is, we did, anyway, until her roommates, Josette and Lorraine came bursting in, wanting to regale us with a steady stream of new cheers they'd both come up with, in honor of all of us having successfully graduated," she revealed with a soft smirk and roll of her eyes, gingerly tugging at Blair's pink hued bedsheets within the upper right hand corner of the bed before smoothing it out. "So after spending a fair amount of time cleaning up the various pieces of the girl's pompom strands, which had come loose due to all of their vigorous cheering, Portia and I decided to move our little celebration back over to the palace, where I invited her to spend the night . . . which I think was something she really enjoyed."

"Oh? Hasn't she ever slept over there before? I mean, seeing as you two seem pretty close and everything," Blair wondered aloud upon completion of fixing her bed, moving around it to sit upon the lavender and gold trimmed vanity chair placed by the foot of it.

Delancy briefly tensed up a moment upon hearing the other girl's honest inquiry, before slowly turning around to face her.

". . . . Well, yes. I mean, I suppose we are pretty close friends . . . even if I haven't always acted like a very good one to her . . . at least, not publicly, mostly, anyway," she began within reply, listlessly beginning to move toward the identical chair set straight across the large room from Blair's own to take a seat. "I mean, my . . . mother always used to stress upon me how appearance was everything while growing up, and as the future princess of Gardania, I would naturally be set to higher standards than others, even other princesses. So she never really liked it whenever I used to try to have anyone over at the palace, especially not to sleep over, like I'd wanted a lot for Portia when we were kids. . . . She said that such activities would only serve as a distraction for what she felt was more important, like all of my continued studies within proper etiquette and such, something my mom had started me on many years before I was finally old enough to officially enroll at this school. . . ."

So no wonder why she was just so . . . perfect at everything, Blair reflected within silence, giving a tiny nod within mild understanding, before hesitantly commenting, "So . . . I imagine that growing up at the palace might not have been as . . . 'magical,' I guess, as Emily's hoping it will be, then. . . ."

At this, Delancy looked up at her within curiosity, before faintly smiling, her lightly toasted complexion relaxing into a far off sort of expression, as though re-imagining an old memory.

"Well, no . . . I wouldn't say that, exactly, and certainly not to your sister, who seems to be really looking forward to living there from now on," she said with a light nod, before turning her caramel blonde head and gazed out the large, floor length windows within the room. "True, it did sometimes get a little lonely, living there pretty much all by myself as a kid - I mean, with my mother, of course, too, as well as Headmistress Privet, who stays there during the times the charm school is closed after every semester, by the way. . . . Anyway, it wasn't so bad, though, since Portia and I would always manage to find ways around my mother's rules to hang out together whenever she'd come to visit, like either around here on the school grounds, or somewhere within the palace gardens and stuff. We figured that she kept telling us that she didn't want anyone being within the palace, itself, a whole lot, so those other places wouldn't really count . . . even if it was still technically a part of the palace, naturally."

Blair smiled slowly as she listened to her cousin surprisingly open up to her more, far more than she had initially expected, or even dared to hope for.

"Sounds like you two really did have a blast, then," she remarked with a grin, leaning forward to blindly scratch away an itch upon her right shin. "Did you ever do anything special together, like hold tea parties or something, with any other princesses you both knew at the time?"

Delancy shook her head at this, turning her attention back onto the cornflower haired girl seated across from her.

"No, not really. We figured that there was enough of that sort of stuff going on through our parents' behalf, after all. No, we mainly did a lot of the things we really couldn't or didn't have enough time for, otherwise - You know, more leisurely pursuits, like swimming, and . . . and horseback riding," she explained with another smile before it then began to fade, as she gave a slight pause to the final activity she'd then revealed to the other girl.

Blair raised an eyebrow at this, as she silently debated whether or not she should pursue the personal observation and ask whatever was the matter. She didn't need to worry, however, as Delancy then freely volunteered the furthered information, herself.

"I'm . . . sure you, and everybody else, really, already noticed that Portia sometimes isn't exactly . . . 'on' all the time, so to speak, and for lack of a better phrase," she started with a soft sigh, locking her warm brown eyes with Blair's periwinkle. "Well . . . there's a reason for that. At least . . . one part of two. You see, Portia's ultimate passion used to be Equestrianism. Ever since the first day I'd met her, back when we were both six-years-old, all she'd ever really talk about was horses, horses, horses, and how she couldn't wait until she was old enough to begin learning how to ride one. Finally, when we turned eight, that's when her mom and dad, Queen Ciera and King Cirrus at last gave the 'O.K.' for her to begin the proper lessons . . . and she was a natural, too, as far as I was concerned, anyway. Definitely better than I was, although I never really did take a right shine to it, finding being pulled along within a carriage to be more along my tastes . . . that, and my mother, naturally, disapproved of it. . . . A-Anyway, one of the last, real times Portia had come over to the palace, at least when we were still kids, was when we were eleven. We, the kingdom, that is, had just bought a few new horses to add to our royal stable, and, of course, Portia couldn't resist wanting to ride one of them, as she often would for many of our others during her past visits. But . . . the one she had chosen, 'Shutter,' was still a tiny bit on the easily spooked side – At the time, at least - and wasn't honestly quite ready for any sort of intense interaction. . . ."

". . . . So . . . So what happened?" Blair asked, voice barely above a whisper as she felt herself becoming literally on the edge of her seat within nervous anticipation.

Delancy could no longer hold her gaze with her cousin then, and chose to instead look down at her own smooth hands which rested neatly within her lap, as her face gradually contorted into one of profound shame.

". . . . I'd said that Portia had chosen the horse, but . . . really, I had," she said with a hard swallow, before slowly licking at her increasingly dry lips. "I don't . . . don't really know why I did it . . . but I guess it was because I was admittedly a little bit jealous of her skill. I mean, in only a few years' time, she was already this . . . superstar Equestrian, practically, while I was merely so-so by comparison, even if I didn't honestly care for the sport, anyhow. But, I was so used to usually being the better one between us in pretty much everything, and then also couple that with my mother constantly reminding me that I was and always had to be, above everyone . . . and I guess I just sort of . . . lost it."

". . . . So you let Portia try to ride Shutter, even though you knew that there might be complications," Blair quietly finished for Delancy, who slowly nodded without daring to look back up at her.

"In truth . . . I didn't honestly think that there would be, at least, not with her riding him, having been so great and all," she stated with a drawn out, shaky exhale, lightly ringing her hands together. "In fact, I was fairly confident that she'd succeed just fine, because of that 'greatness . . .' but a part of me still . . . sort of hoped that she wouldn't, just so I could for once see some humility about her, where her horseback riding skills were concerned. . . ."

"How . . . How long did she last, then?" Blair asked faintly, her heart pounding rapidly behind her breastplate as she both feared, yet desired to know the answer.

Delancy shook her head lethargically, before tightly sealing her eyes shut, as though within attempts to further seal away the overall memory.

". . . . Not long at all," she whispered weakly, licking at her lips once more. "She did manage to get the saddle and reins on him just fine, without him making a fuss . . . and even managed to mount and lead him out of the stables okay, too, which, I'm even more ashamed to say, only made me feel that much more envious of her talents. . . . But I didn't have to feel pretty jealous for long, though, seeing as . . . as Shutter immediately began to buck furiously, causing me to instantly regret my deception. I rushed off to get one of the nearby palace attendants to help, but . . . I was too late. When I turned back around, Portia was already lying on the ground, unconscious. . . ."

"Oh, my God," Blair breathed with widened eyes, covering her mouth within furthered affect.

"Y-Yes . . . 'oh, my God,'" Delancy responded within mimicry, before finally looking at her stunned cousin with saddened eyes. "Thank God, though, for her helmet, and that Shutter had run off promptly after dropping her, otherwise she might've. . . . A-Anyway, unfortunately, even with the helmet's added protection, the blow Portia had evidently received to her head that day had been pretty severe . . . so severe, in fact, that she'd spent nearly three days within a coma. . . ."

Blair curiously nodded slowly at this, as her own eyes suddenly seemed to flicker within recognition.

"Yeah . . . I think I can remember my mom reading something about that from out of the 'Gardanian Times,' around that time I suppose, after she'd caught me looking at the headline, about how 'The Viscountess Devin's Childhood Friend Suffers a Serious Injury at the Palace. . . .' I can recall how that was a pretty big scandal of sorts at the time," she stated lightly, hoping that the admittance would be received by the other girl as delicately as she had tried to relay it.

Delancy merely continued to gaze back at her with the same amount of sorrow, although her brown eyes shown with comprehension, perhaps both at the shared memory, as well as Blair's sensitive intent.

". . . . Yeah. So you can now understand why it would be a fairly long while before Portia's parents allowed her to come back and visit, or even for me to go over to her palace back within Narcissia . . . although, if my mom had had her way about that completely, I probably would have never seen her again, seeing how absolutely livid she had become after the accident, doing her best to deflect the temporarily bad 'P.R.' our family had experienced for a bit after that," she said with another sigh, this one just as elongated as the last. "In the end, Portia was revealed to now be suffering from 'Retrograde Amnesia,' which thankfully wasn't and isn't severely extensive, although she does still have it to this day. . . ."

"'Retrograde Amnesia?' So, then . . . she can't recall anything from the past, or present, I'm sorry?" Blair asked hesitantly, clasping her now clammy hands together.

". . . . Past," she replied, a bit wearily, as though continuing to recount the memory was draining every last ounce of her energy. "It had taken her a little while at first to immediately recall each of her loved ones, which was certainly heartbreaking for her family, of course . . . and for me. But, over time she seemed to greatly improve, although certain things we used to do or experienced together she couldn't, and still can't recall. . . . She even ended up having to be re-educated within a fairly good chunk of her etiquette and general tutorial lessons, as well. I can't honestly tell you, though, if Portia recalls her horseback riding lessons and skills, as well, or can execute them just as well as before, rather, seeing as her parents promptly barred her from ever riding a horse again . . . and she hasn't ever honestly expressed wishing to, at least not in front of me, anyway. . . . You can't imagine how incredibly guilt ridden that's made me feel throughout the years, to have taken away so much from her like that, and all because I was stupidly covetous. . . . And I haven't even told her this, either, any of this . . . no one, actually, until now. . . ."

Blair felt her heart beginning to break tremendously for her newfound relative, wishing that she could somehow go back in time to avert the overall tragedy from ever occurring in the first place. She slowly rose from her seat and began to gingerly drag it closer to an obviously pained Delancy, and placed it directly in front of her, so that their knees were now touching.

"Oh, Delancy . . . I'm so sorry," she gushed with palpable affect, hesitating a moment before reaching out to gently seize one of the other girl's hands to cradle within her own. "I really can't imagine the weight of such guilt, especially having kept it inside for so many years like that. . . . But, at least Portia's all right now, though, or at least seems to be doing much better than how she presumably began with her condition."

Delancy began to experience a mixture of ongoing shame, yet a strange sort of inner peace over perhaps finally confessing her sin, as well as receiving a mild semblance of forgiveness for it, even if it wasn't from the one person she truly desired it to stem.

That momentary feeling of tranquility was instantly extinguished thereafter, however, the moment she also reflected upon the further impact her actions have had upon her childhood companion.

"Maybe . . . except that . . . well, remember how I said that there was more than one reason why Portia is the way she is to those who don't really know her history, like I do?" Delancy asked slowly, her voice quivering and heart aching as she forced herself to maintain eye contact with her new princess seated directly before her.

Blair nodded only once as her response, although she did begin to slowly increase the pressure through which she continued to possess the other girl's hand.

"Well . . . that's because learning things has always been a bit . . . I wouldn't say 'challenging,' but has always simply required a bit more time for Portia," she began within furthered explanation, sighing once again, for the third time. "I don't believe it was ever a clinical sort of condition, though. It just sometimes takes her a while longer than others to fully comprehend some things, that's all, like mathematics, to give you an example. . . . And then, couple that with the daydreaming-like personality she's always possessed since we were kids, always liking to think outside the box and do things within her own, unique way, and . . . now, too, with her amnesia, and I don't suppose I can find it all too difficult for many people to earn the initial misconception that she's unintelligent, or something. . . ."

Blair said nothing to this, as she allowed herself to fully process the added information Delancy provided her about the tangerine haired princess. She felt her cheeks immediately grow hot with her own sort of disgrace, as she silently admitted to herself that she happened to be one of those individuals who would have thought along the same sort of lines about the girl.

After all . . . she did always seem so . . . scatty whenever I was around her, Blair mused with mounting guilt over her unnecessary, although perhaps slightly understanding presumptions. And she did think that she had twelve toes, instead of ten, that one time during our ballroom dancing class . . . but I guess now I can sort of better gather why. . . .

". . . . I'm sorry," was all Blair could manage, apologizing once more, although this time more so for her own misgivings about her cousin's obviously cherished companion. It was then her turn to feel suddenly incapable of looking at the other blonde, as she then dropped her gaze and hand away from her, and instead looked at their pair of lightly grazing knees.

It wasn't like her at all to traditionally judge others, or to place any sort of label upon anyone, whether she knew any of them well, or not. And so her present shame over it was that much more great, as she continued to keep her blue eyes downcast, silently wishing that Portia were there right now, so that she could admit her personal wrongdoing and apologize to her, as well.

". . . . I like that you care so much," Delancy softly stated with a smile permeating within her voice, which caused Blair to brave a glance at her once more. She then watched as her royal advisor gave a brief nod at this, before slowly broadening the simper. "It's true, Blair . . . it's something I've always secretly admired about you, really. How compassionate you are, and so easily forgiving, as well. . . . It seems that I possess a pretty nasty jealous tendency within me, as, just like with Portia, I found myself feeling envious of you at times because of that. . . ."

". . . . R-Really? But, I mean . . . what is there to really be jealous about with me, though? If anything, I should have been the one to be jealous of you, over how flawless you've always seemed to be, especially with all that confidence going for you, as well," Blair confessed, herself, her cheeks growing flushed as she felt the self-assurance she had only recently built up for herself beginning to waver a tiny bit within those moments.

Delancy exhaled, for what felt like the umpteenth time to her then, as her previously strong smile weakened slightly.

"'Seemed,' being the operative word, there," she remarked with a light frown, briefly looking away from the other blonde a moment, before returning her gaze. "Obviously I do possess some flaws, probably more than I care to admit, even to myself . . . and I'm definitely far from perfect, as well, if my recent, previous confession wasn't any sort of indication. . . . And, to be honest even further, I don't even really think I'm all that brave, either. . . ."

Blair didn't honestly have to search her mind that long in order to understand exactly what Delancy was now referring to, especially not now, now that the undeniable pain was becoming effortlessly etched upon her otherwise unmarred countenance.

". . . . It's . . . never all that easy for most people to consciously defy a parent, Delancy," she commented gently, replacing her hand onto Delancy's body, this time upon her bare left knee. "I know that it would have been pretty hard for me, as well, if I had to suddenly go against my own mother for anything. . . ."

Delancy gazed back at Blair with an odd sort of vacancy filtering into her brown eyes a moment, before she immediately scrunched up her face as she struggled to choke back a broken sob of blatant anguish.

"I-I . . . I have never once spoken against my mother's wishes, or gone against them, not once, within my entire life! N-Not really, at least never for anything serious. . . . A-And . . . And the one time I finally do, for something truly important, she refers to me as a 'useless child!'" she cried within heartache, immediately covering her face with the both of her hands, as the events of the previous day at last seemed to be catching up to her within its entirety.

Blair wanted so desperately to say something, anything to comfort the emotionally wounded girl before her, but nothing would come out, try as she might.

What could have been said, in all honesty?

No child, no matter the type of existing relationship, ever wished to hear or learn of their parents' disapproval of them, after all, with any sort of words of solace doing quite little to mend the jarring affect generally experienced as a result.

And given that Delancy had had to endure such an overpowering event, not only before her classmates and formerly future court, but also had had it televised live throughout the entire kingdom, Blair was absolutely certain that there truly wasn't a thing at all she could possibly do to make her cousin's own sort of fall from grace hurt any less.

Still, she knew that she had to try. . . .

"I-I . . . I know that I can't possibly begin to understand all that you must be feeling right now, Delancy, as my own mother has never said anything remotely close as that to me before," Blair began weakly, mentally kicking herself for her admittedly insensitive wording, given the current circumstances, "b-but . . . no matter how you may feel, or what your mom now thinks, you are not useless . . . and you definitely are brave, trust me. . . ."

Blair watched within a bit of relief as Delancy slowly uncovered her now completely reddened and brokenheartedly tear stained face, and warily peeked over the tips of her fingers to look upon her.

". . . . O-Oh . . . O-Oh yeah? How can you be so sure, Blair, when I-I'm not even sure, myself? I'm not so sure of much of anything anymore," she whispered in between wet sobs, lowering her gaze once more. "My entire existence is completely altered now. . . . I was always known as 'the future Princess Delancy, ruler of Gardania,' and on top of the world with all of the answers and everything awarded to me without hesitation. And now . . . I don't have any answer to speak of . . . or a family, at that. . . ."

Blair lightly bit her bottom lip as she felt her heart begin to sting all over again, especially now, as it was almost as though she were looking into a mirror.

"Delancy . . . I think that you might be within the perfect company right now," she said with a faint smile, which strengthened the moment she'd caught sight of the other girl's naturally surprised expression. "It's true. . . . I mean, I'm really not trying to make light of your situation or to patronize you in any sort of way about it . . . but I honestly do understand how you feel, at least about no longer having any of the answers. After all, my life has also been completely changed, as well, with me now being expected to fill the tailor-made shoes you were once meant to possess all along. . . . At least, by comparison, you actually did have the answers and proper know-how for the position, unlike myself, where I'll probably have to do a lot of 'winging it' as I first start out as active ruler, even with your assistance. . . ."

Blair paused a moment, allowing Delancy (who seemed to be thankfully calming down a bit then) time to fully process her little speech. She then reached out with both arms and gently rested her hands upon her cousin's shoulders all over again before continuing.

"I believe that, without a doubt, you will find your way again, Delancy, sooner, or later . . . because you really are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. That's one thing I can tell about you already, without question," she complimented with a renewed smile, lightly applying pressure to her Lady Royal's shoulders within furthered consolation. "And . . . at the risk of sounding a bit insensitive or something here, but what . . . Dame Devin has done has naturally affected me, as well. But . . . I've decided that I'm going to do my very best not to let it – Let her get me down, or impede my overall capabilities as Princess of Gardania, just to spite her. . . . And one more, very important thing, I might add? You are not alone in any of this, Delancy, or without family . . . because you still have me. And Emily and my mother, at that, as they're also now a part of your family, as well, or did you already forget?"

Delancy promptly blinked a bit rapidly within surprise at this, a soft gasp escaping past her lips as the realization just then sank in.

Blair's right . . . I do still have family. . . . I suppose I really did forget, after all, she mused as a faint, glimmer of hope that her life really wasn't as abominable, or as overwhelmingly isolating as she'd previously felt it to be began to take root within her heart.

". . . . T-Thank you, Cousin Blair . . . for everything," Delancy spoke with a shy smile, openly referring to the other blonde as her 'cousin' for the very first time, as she blindly reached up to wipe a few stray and final tears away from her face. "At least now I also know for sure that I'd done the right thing in the end, by relinquishing the throne to you . . . because I can already see that the people of Gardania will be in good hands. . . ."

Although I do wonder if Blair honestly is holding up about all of this as well as she's portraying, she added silently to herself with a momentary, worried crease of her eyebrows, before letting the thought fade away into the background, if only for the time being. Maybe she simply figures that only one of us can break down at a time . . . sad to say. . . .

Delancy quietly watched as the other girl in question curiously rose to her feet, and made a move towards her mostly empty nightstand, where a small box of tissues were propped neatly atop it. The two young women then began to share a shamefaced sort of grin with one another as Blair returned to her seat moments later, box in hand.

"'Cousin Blair . . .' never been called that before by anyone, naturally, but I think I'm gonna get used to it – And like it pretty quickly," she said with a broadening grin and light blush within her smooth cheeks as she sat back down, slowly extending the box of tissues to an equally abashed Delancy before her. "And thank you for calling me that, Delancy . . . or should I say 'Cousin Delancy,' instead, myself! It really does mean a lot to me, though . . . as I'm pretty sure you could tell that family means the world to me. . . . And thank you, too, for the continued vote of confidence about my new job as princess! But, to be honest? I'm not all that sure where to begin! What's meant to be my first order of business, that sort of thing, you know?"

Delancy, whose turn it now was to rise from her own seat before then discreetly turning away in order to blow her nose, turned back around with a slightly more reddened nose as a result, however with a much more confident smile returning onto her face as she spoke.

"Well . . . how about we simply settle with heading to breakfast, or brunch, by now, for starters? I'm sure that your mother, and now also Miss Emily have been waiting back at the palace long enough," she replied with a light smirk, her overall demeanor increasingly becoming much more lax, as her temporary moment of unwanted vulnerability seemed to continually subside.

At this, Blair promptly shot back up onto her feet and slapped an open palm to her forehead, before nodding within agreement and already rushing towards the closed dormitory room door.

"Ohh! Oh, my gosh, that's right! We'd really better get a move on, before this brunch turns into an early supper, at this rate!" she gushed apologetically, fleetingly grabbing her bath robe from the previous evening on her way out of the room.

Delancy merely giggled softly with a small shake of her head and closing of her brown eyes, before calmly making her way towards the now wide open dorm room door.

". . . . I have a strong feeling that life with you from now on is never going to be dull, 'Cous,'" she murmured to herself, carefully tossing her used tissue into the nearby trash receptacle by the doorway, before exiting the room, herself.

---

If someone had informed Ellen that not only would she one day be living within the Gardanian Palace, but that one of her very own adopted daughters would turn out to be the sole heir to its throne, she would have expected that they were merely attempting to take the mickey out of her.

Yet, there she now was, feeling that much more proud to be a mother, as she always had, sat within the grand, appropriately golden schemed dining hall of her eldest daughter, Blair's (or, more surprisingly, the long lost Princess Sophia's) new home. Their new home.

What a far cry this all turned out to be, from the greatly humble beginnings Ellen had originated, and then to the previously current standings she had managed to establish for her two children. Although having never felt all too ashamed or apologetic for the cards Life had dealt the small Willows Family, knowing that she had always done the absolute best she could to provide for her girls, in truth, Ellen would nonetheless secretly feel like a bit of a failure at times, try as she might not to.

It hadn't been her intention, after all, to have spent the last nineteen years (up until recently, that is) waiting tables at the Café Gardania during the day, while spending most early evenings trying to make it on time to acting auditions which were sadly beginning to run dry. And all this while simultaneously attempting to care for the then infant Blair, whom she had unexpectedly and mysteriously found perched upon her apartment's doorstep two years after Ellen had first begun working there.

Ellen had had a 'master plan' of sorts for her life since her early adolescence, with nearly everything figured out down to the letter: Step one, move away from her native, admittedly behind-the-times (back then, and to her, at least) country of Nyarai, and into the seemingly much more 'with it' Gardania, in order to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a Stage, and then hopefully later, Screen Actress.

Step two, successfully find suitable new living quarters with the little money she'd had to her name at the time, before setting out to find temporary work to help keep food on the table. Step three, audition for as many known productions as possible, before finally landing that one big, fantastic role. And finally, step four, eventually marry and settle down with children, two at the most.

Somewhere along the way Ellen had been neglected of being informed that sometimes the universe simply has other things in mind, as she soon found that out first hand over time. She was once a young, vivacious and overly optimistic twenty-two-year-old when she'd first moved to Gardania, feeling fit as a fiddle and eager to get her new life going on the right track. Then suddenly, she found herself having a more steady job as a waitress than an actress as the years crept on, and with the unanticipated and added responsibilities as a first time mother . . . sans husband, or even boyfriend.

But even though it had been rather difficult at times to cope, Ellen, even to this day, never once regretted her decision to take Baby Blair in and adopt her as her own. The young child became a staple of uplifting courage and hope for the single mother, that one day things would finally turn around for them both, and that all of their dreams would soon come true.

In fact, Blair had become such the little blessing within Ellen's life that she had gone right ahead and adopted her second daughter, Emily, a few years later, despite the fact that their overall home life was still rather meager at best, and their mother's luck as a famous star had all but vanished by then. . . .

However, by that time, it had become less and less important to Ellen if she did make it at all, or even if the remainder of her once equally important 'steps' had ever come to fruition, either, as her girls were now her everything. The only desire she had left was to simply provide as good a life as she could for them . . . although her now, basic 'career' at the Café Gardania continued to pay quite little, bringing her less and less closer to her new goal of moving her little family into a much more appropriate neighborhood.

She supposed she had said neighborhood to thank for her present condition, as well, as her once tip top health had become greatly deteriorated over the years. The environment within that particular area of Gardania had always been rather smoggy, after all, and greatly neglected by comparison to the more uptown communities, and especially the palace's immediate vicinity, itself.

And so that was precisely why Ellen had begun to work like mad during her later years, in order to finally save up enough money to move her family out of that neighborhood once and for all, lest her two children begin to grow physically effected, as well.

And she would have succeeded, as well, she was sure . . . had it not been for the unexpected herniated disc she'd experienced within her lower back one day while on the job nearly three months ago, upon having helped a few of her fellow and then shorthanded employees unload a few new shipments for the café. . . .

Ellen didn't honestly know, even now, whether to feel thankful or heartbroken that Blair had been old enough to take her place at the establishment by then, effectively becoming the new breadwinner of the household. She almost cursed that her eldest daughter had always been quite gifted within her scholastic endeavors growing up, as it had awarded her an early graduation from her high school, one year in advance.

She also almost rued that the young teenager had always been so kindhearted, as well, and never once complained about anything the three Willows women had had to endure throughout the years, due to their continually destitute surroundings.

If only Ellen could have turned back the hands of time in that regard, alone . . . then Blair could have gone ahead and accepted the few, however admirable scholarships she had luckily been awarded in order to attend the colleges of her choice, and thus begin living her own life by her own terms, rather than now living her life for her mother and baby sister. . . .

It makes me wonder whether or not I should feel like a failure as a mother, after all, or simply continue on within my current pride that everything has somehow managed to work out in the end, the now forty-one-year-old mother mused with a light sigh at her place at the large, golden hued and oval shaped dining table.

Ellen continued to study her eldest child in silence, as the girl moved around the table and quietly served her mother, and an avidly tittering Emily a piping hot spot of tea, with such confidence Ellen had admittedly never before seen the blonde possess.

It nearly brought renewed tears to her soft brown eyes to continually witness, as the undeniable, overall change within the newly crowned princess of Gardania was truly quite the marvel . . . even a bit more so than the actual fact that Blair was suddenly revealed to be a princess within the first place.

She had always simply been Ellen's 'princess,' and hers, alone, much like Emily was to her, as well, after all. But she had also always known, deep down, that Blair was destined for absolute greatness and was truly special, beyond the special circumstances of her premiere arrival into her adopted mother's life.

And now, the rest of the kingdom would soon see this for themselves, as well. . . .

"Oh, Blair, I really wish you would let your sister and I help serve this Brunch," Ellen said with a soft, apologetic smile towards the girl in question, who then stopped within her tracks to flash the older woman a mimicking simper of her own.

"It's all right, Mom, really! And anyway, it's my own fault that we're even having 'this Brunch' at all, instead of a 'Breakfast,' seeing as I'd woken up so late today," the blonde replied with a light wave of her left, free hand, before carefully setting down the elegant and intricately designed porcelain teapot onto an empty spot of the neatly set dining table. "I really am sorry, again, for that! I hope that me and Emily – E-Er, 'Emily and I' hadn't kept you waiting for too long. . . ."

Ellen's previous smile warmed all the more upon listening to her first adopted daughter apologize for her uncharacteristic tardiness once more, as well as for her having promptly corrected her momentary poor grammar.

I suppose the charm school really had worked wonders for my little girl, after all, the brunette mused, before shaking her head and addressed her child once again.

"It really wasn't any bother, Blair, I told you. As I said, I, too, had ended up sleeping in a tiny bit, myself, anyhow. I suppose it was all in thanks to that mattress within my guestroom; it was simply divine," Ellen said with a renewed smile, reaching toward her right in order to lightly stroke a still giggling Emily upon her brown colored, and continually pigtail-free head. "In fact, the previous night's rest had been so restful, that I can't recall the last time I'd felt this . . . rejuvenated, I suppose! And, of course, having your cousin, Delancy, come in earlier this morning to personally serve me a bit of Elevenses in the meantime was quite a pleasant, and wonderful treat, as well! Such a sweet child, that girl is. . . ."

As though her ears had been burning, right in that moment did Delancy suddenly appear, or reappear as was the case, upon having excused herself in order to retrieve the Willows Family's brunch. Both Ellen and Blair were now far too transfixed upon the newcomer, and the grand, silver tray of delectable treats within hand to have noticed that Emily had curiously promptly ceased within her previously ongoing glee.

For there it was, again.

That unexpected, and thoroughly unwanted nagging feeling of intermingled worry and . . . perhaps jealousy? First, Emily had been fleetingly, although nonetheless palpably concerned that her sister, Blair would perhaps change and eventually forget about her over time . . . and now she regrettably found herself that the same could possibly be said about their mother.

After all, she, too, already seemed to be changing, herself, and overnight, at that, the way the older woman now possessed a sort of kick within her step, as well an overall, jaunty appearance. The color within her mother's cheeks was rapidly returning to her, as well, almost as though by some unknown magic, making her appear much more youthful than ever before . . . especially within the fanciful, long-sleeved and turtlenecked, cream colored sweaterdress she was presently adorned within.

Emily hadn't ever previously realized that her mother could look so young and almost . . . girly before now, seeing as she had always seemed to prefer wearing quite the humble sort of attire, and bulky robes to stay warm, even during the spring and summertime. And, of course, the woman's walking cane and vaguely drab hairstyle also hadn't helped much within staving off the elderly women-like illusion.

So the surprise was certainly all Emily's upon first taking in the sight of her mother, when the young preteen had been escorted into the dining hall by Grace and Wickellia, who both kindly continued to remain behind about the Gardanian Palace if needed, rather than at last return to their own home with the rest of their Sprite kin.

Granted, Emily, herself, was currently looking a tad different, as well, what with the baby blue, and softly glittered flutter-sleeved dress she now had on, a dress which was quite possibly the most gorgeous piece of attire she had ever worn within her entire life.

Still.

A lot seemed to be changing already to her, or at least the feeling . . . she just hoped that they would merely be good, welcomed changes on the whole, that's all. . . .

"Would you like some help, Delancy?" Emily heard herself ask the older girl, a bit unexpectedly, considering her continually conflicted feelings towards her. She really did wish to assist her, and also really did hope that the two would get along well, as they thankfully already seemed to be thus far.

They, too, were now also technically cousins, after all.

But it didn't mean that she was in any rush to fully share Blair with her, or even the rest of the kingdom, for that matter . . . not yet, at least.

Apparently not having expected to be spoken to directly by the younger girl, as the occasions have so far been few and far in between, Delancy blinked within undeniable surprise as she turned her caramel blonde head toward her a moment, and smiled while continuing to approach.

"Oh! No, but thank you for the offer, Miss Emily. I am pretty good at balancing heavy objects, as your sister can tell you," she revealed with a small smile, momentarily then shifting her gaze onto a lightly smirking Blair, before gingerly setting the serving tray onto the dining table. "Now . . . I hope that you'll all find the food to be adequate. It was a bit like moving around within the dark, just as it had been when I'd issued a full wardrobe request on each of your behalf, Ms. Willows and Miss Emily . . . so I just sort of made a bit of everything."

At this, Blair promptly let out a rather loud gasp, her peaches and cream complexion growing a bit rosy as a result. She then swiftly moved to her cousin's side, the hem of her eggplant, one-shoulder maxi dress, as well as the tail end of her now neatly combed, French-Braided hair both lightly whipping behind her in the process.

"Wow! You mean . . . Delancy, you made all of this?" she breathed within awe and a small wave of her hand towards the temporarily untouched assortment of mouthwatering food laid out before them all. A colorful array of pastries and freshly baked bread, pancakes, syrup, scrambled eggs, and newly picked fruits adorned the shimmering tray, alongside creamy and smooth looking butter, which appeared as though it could have been freshly churned not too long ago.

There was also a large bowl of crisp salad, as well as another bowl next to it, filled with what appeared to be creamy Vichyssoise. Even a plate decoratively spread with shrimp was evidently on the menu for the Willows Family.

Blair had ample reason to feel quite impressed with her Lady Royal's evident talent within the culinary arts, as each dish appeared as though they had come straight out of a fanciful picture. Not even the various meals which had been served back within the charm school could compare, and each one of those had been rather picturesque and tantalizing within their own right.

However, the young princess had a strong feeling that the brunch she and her family were about to partake within would most probably blow away all of their senses, and leave a lasting impression upon them all for it.

"Oooh, Mom, look! Chocolate Chip Pancakes! And strawberries! My favorites!" Emily squealed within blatant approval of her own, and before Delancy could respond to Blair's previous inquiry. The remaining females softly chuckled at the youngest girl's ample delight, before the apparent chef in question gently lifted Emily's empty, gold rimmed plate in order to begin serving her in kind.

"I'm glad I had gone with my last minute decision to add the chocolate chips, then; somehow, I'd just had a gut feeling you might appreciate the addition, Miss Emily. At least, I know I always do, myself," Delancy remarked with a small grin towards the beaming, petite girl at her left, as she delicately placed three golden brown pancakes onto her plate. She then turned her attention back onto Blair and finally awarded her with a proper response. "And to answer your previous question, Blair, I . . . well, yes, I did prepare each dish you see before you, although the palace cooks did assist a bit, as otherwise I don't think I'd have finished making everything in time to serve for your brunch. . . ."

"'Brunch?' Now this is more like a full banquet!" Blair gushed within continued admiration for the other blonde's culinary feat. "You weren't kidding when you said that you had taken the liberty of already getting a couple things done on my behalf this morning! I had no idea, though, that you were so gifted at cooking! Well, I suppose I wouldn't, I mean, seeing as you and I never really did hang out throughout the entire semester, and all of our meals had always been prepared by the charm school chefs and . . . yeah. . . ."

Blair trailed off upon the realization that she was now, in effect, rambling, in addition to once again more or less touching upon a subject, a shared, recent past which was still rather tender for them both, even with the heart to heart the pair had just experienced almost an hour prior.

Delancy did not seem to mind, however, although a faint rouge did begin to creep along her smooth cheeks as she calmly set down Emily's pancake and strawberry filled plate.

"Well, no . . . I suppose you wouldn't, or couldn't have known, of course. Not many people do, in all honesty," she said with a light nod of furthered affirmation, taking a small step back away from the dining table, as she took a moment to further explain herself before continuing to serve the rest of Blair's family. "This palace has always been rather, well, spacious, naturally, and, not counting the various attendants on call, it's just always been my mother and I . . . and Headmistress Privet, of course, living here. So that frees up a lot of time to rediscover, or discover, altogether, newfound hobbies and talents one might possess. And, as it so turned out, cooking happened to be mine. . . ."

"That's wonderful, Prin - E-Er, Viscountess Delancy," Ellen complimented, before promptly amending herself with a warm smile, clearly still needing a bit of time to get better used to the overall situation, as well. "So, then, do you cook or bake quite often? I imagine your attendants and, perhaps, past party guests must have thoroughly enjoyed many a meal from you, as I know we're about to, ourselves."

Both Blair, and even Emily smiled generously at their mother's natural kindness, before simultaneously nodding within agreement and returning their attention back onto a now profusely blushing Delancy . . . who curiously also now looked a tad doleful by the notion.

"Just 'Delancy' will do fine, if that's all right with you, Ms. Willows, thank you," she politely corrected with a light smile towards the older woman, before it slowly began to fade as she continued. "I . . . haven't honestly gotten a lot of chances to enter the royal kitchens growing up, actually, not unless it was to simply be served something by someone, instead. My mother . . . well, she was pretty strict about that – About a lot of things, really. . . . When she finally caught me trying my hand at baking some brownies when I was around twelve-years-old or so – Which was also when I'd started to be seriously interested within cooking – she'd promptly put a stop to it. Or tried to, anyway, as you can see the end results before you. . . ."

"Wh . . . Whoteveh forh? Thif if delishshish!" Emily piped up with a wide, thankfully closed lipped grin, as her mouth was suddenly quite full of mixed strawberries and chocolate chip pancakes.

Rather than be admonished for such a poor display of the sound table manners as she normally would have, her mother (alongside the two remaining girls) merely let out a startled giggle, before calmly reaching for Emily's unused table napkin and began to gently wipe around the edges of her small mouth, as though still an infant.

"Oh, Emily . . . it really is a shame that you're still too young to enroll at the charm school," Ellen teased with a growing smile of honest amusement, her youngest child then flashing her a sheepish grin before the pair gazed upon the two blondes standing before them. "I'm sorry about that . . . Delancy. Sometimes my daughter can have quite the way with words. . . ."

Softly chuckling at the mild jest, Delancy shook her head with a briefly raised hand.

"Not a problem, Ms. Willows. It's simply nice to see that my hunch within possible food choices for today's brunch has been so far correct," she replied, before shifting her honey brown eyes onto a now empty mouthed Emily. "And thank you, Miss Emily, for . . . what I think had been a compliment! But as to 'whatever for,' since I was meant to be Gardania's princess one day, I suppose my mother just didn't feel it was necessary, or perhaps even flattering, for me to know how to do anything beyond boiling water, where kitchen affairs were concerned. . . . But I personally never viewed it as such the big deal, really, especially since I seemed to be pretty good at it, and it always managed to put me at such ease while doing it . . . so that's why I stuck with it. In secret, of course . . . I didn't wish to make my mother upset any further about it. . . ."

Blair, the only one amongst the Willows women to obviously be aware of how potentially sensitive the current topic of conversation might soon become for her cousin (at least, where the focus upon the presently incarcerated Dame Devin was concerned), immediately sprung into action just then, as she placed a hand upon Delancy's shoulder with one hand, and waved her free hand towards the delectable spread upon the golden dining table.

"Well, personally, I think that it's good that you kept up with your gifts, Delancy! You're obviously passionate about it," she began with a warm grin, before teasingly adding, "and I think that if if this 'Lady Royal' gig doesn't work out for you, you could always start your own catering business! 'Café Gardania,' for example, would most definitely kill to have some of these cute little pastries added to their menu!"

Delancy lightly rolled her eyes at this as she smirked, herself, moving back closer to the table as she then gingerly seized Ms. Willows's still empty plate, this time.

"I don't know about any of that, Blair, so let's not go too far. Like I said, I just mainly do it for fun, and as a way to unwind whenever I might be feeling . . . stressed. And considering I was formerly on my way to governing an entire country, I was cooking and baking pretty much every chance I got!" she remarked with a furthered simper, before promptly turning her caramel blonde head towards the new ruler of Gardania. "Oh! I'm sorry about that! I didn't mean it the way it sounded, as though I'm trying to scare you, or anything! H-Here! Why don't you take a seat, and I'll outfit your plate with some of my 'cute little pastries,' after I've finished serving your mother?"

"Thanks, Delancy, but I don't need you to 'outfit' my plate for me, or to act as my servant, altogether, for that matter," Blair stated with a sort of apologetic air of her own, moving past the other blonde to retrieve both hers, as well as the plate she had set out for Delancy upon her temporary vanishing act. "You're my Lady Royal, my advisor for and about . . . you know! Royal . . . stuff! That's what I chose you for, not to be someone who'd wait on me hand and foot. I feel guilty enough that this palace is probably filled with hundreds of attendants who will all want to do precisely the same for me as time goes on. No. I can take care of myself, remember . . . all in thanks to my mom, of course! Although, as my Lady Royal, you can feel free to pass along the message to them about that – About me, that is - but they're more than welcome to help look after Mom and Emily, instead . . . even though I dare say such 'royal treatment' just might go straight to her little head over time. . . ."

"H-Hey!" Emily snapped with a momentary pout after having just then finished taking a sip of her warm tea, before both she and her older sister mirrored the other as their noses wrinkled and pink tongues briefly flashed one another within mock upset.

Ellen, who then began to lightly chuckle once more towards the various antics of her children, also shook her brown colored head in that moment, however in regards to her eldest daughter's previous announcement.

"Oh, no, Blair! I wouldn't dream of imposing upon anyone like that! It was . . . hard enough doing so upon you earlier this year, while I recovered from my injury," she started in strength, before trailing off into a quiet, weakened fervor. The moment was gone just as quickly as it had arrived, however, as she then immediately flashed both of her girls, as well as Delancy a generous smile.

She still absolutely refused to allow any sort of guilt, or any other type of affect to ever wash over her daughters, namely Blair, for their previous predicament. If anyone were to claim such an emotional burden, Ellen always preferred that it solely rest upon her own shoulders, as most good mothers would.

Nonetheless, Blair instantly then took on her mother's affliction as part of her own, as they both knew she normally would, and set down both dining plates in order to envelope the older woman within a warm embrace.

"Oh, Mom . . . don't worry about it, please. You never should have in the first place! You know that I never once minded taking over your job at 'Café Gardania' while you got better," she murmured tenderly, planting an equally tender kiss atop the brunette's head and gently tickling her nose in the process, due to the small daisy which had been daintily tucked behind the woman's ear as a finishing touch to her overall ensemble. "And besides! That's all behind us now, anyway, right? Now, living here at the palace, Delancy can help me locate and then hire the absolutely best doctor for you, while the ample fresh, mountain air simultaneously assists within mending your condition! And by the looks of how positively radiant you are – Well, more than usual, of course – I'd say that it's already doing the trick!"

Ellen exhaled contentedly into her eldest child's bare arm as she blindly hugged her back, before slowly pulling away to smile proudly up at her.

"I suppose I really did raise a rather magnanimous princess all along, after all," she spoke with a slightly moist, shaky voice, as it was clear that her present, motherly emotions were beginning to overtake her. She then reached out to wrap one arm around a softly smiling Emily at her side, before turning her attention onto a now awkward appearing Delancy still standing near the three of them. "I don't think that I could be any luckier to have two, such wonderful daughters . . . and one wonderfully talented niece. . . ."

Delancy immediately felt her heart give a sharp jolt behind her breastplate within affect, upon listening to Blair's mother extend her bonding sort of moment of reflection to her, as well . . . even to the point of also referring to her as her 'niece' for the first time.

And just as it had made her feel to have listened to Blair call her her 'cousin' not too long before, she once again felt a great surge of returned belonging and acceptance as a result. . . .

"Oh, gosh . . . t-thank you for that, Ms. Willows," Delancy breathed with a faint, but growing smile, feeling more and more thankful, herself, to have suddenly found herself a part of such an undeniably warm, and strong family dynamic.

She then curiously watched as all three of her newfound family members began to lightly giggle, seemingly at her expense.

"I think that, if I can call you 'Delancy,' if not also my 'niece,' as well, then perhaps you can manage referring to me as 'Aunt Ellen' from now on, don't you think?" Ellen questioned jovially, extending the hand formerly wrapped around Emily's shoulder towards Delancy, who then shyly claimed it within her own.

"I-I . . . think that I can, yes . . . Aunt Ellen," she politely responded with a slight cock of her blonde head, her continued embarrassment still working a number on her.

Regardless, it really did feel quite nice to be so surrounded, almost smothered within such love and affection, which was admittedly a far cry from what she had always been much more accustomed to where her own mother was concerned, and sadly so.

Plus, it also felt rather neat for the young Viscountess to now be able to say that she actually possessed an extended family at all, one which was still alive, that is.

Two cousins.

One aunt.

That was three more kin than she'd naturally ever expected to lay claim to within her young life, after all.

It was . . . foreign, yet familiar all at once.

For the remainder of that warmhearted and rather relaxed brunch, the Willows and Devin families ate, drank, and shared various stories with one another, mainly about each of their childhoods (although a bit reluctantly at first for Delancy, who still possessed a few traces of guardedness, even then), including Ellen's . . . which was, in all honesty, one of the few times in both Blair's and Emily's lives they each could actively recall their mother ever doing so.

At least, within such attentive detail, anyhow.

It was also the first time either girl had ever learned of the older woman's former dream to be a stage and screen actress in the first place, and that she wasn't even a native of Gardania. And while such revelations did warm each sibling's heart to be privy to, it also made them feel a slight sense of shame never to have known before, or to have even thought to actively inquire about the full details of her past.

Perhaps each girl had merely assumed that it was a 'don't ask, don't tell' sort of scenario, as it were, as Ms. Willows had never gone out of her way to outline every last facet of her life, either, certainly not within the manner she had done so during their shared meal together then.

The change within scenery and environment really did appear to be already working wonders for the traditionally reserved and humble older woman, after all. . . .

And then suddenly, before any of them knew it, it was already approaching one o'clock within the afternoon, and their premiere brunch, indeed, their premiere meal all together within the palace drew to an admittedly unfortunate close.

It was also when, and unexpectedly so, Headmistress Privet then appeared within the dining hall's entrance-way, alongside a small hand of palace attendants who immediately headed towards the vast table to clear it, most probably at her scheduled prompting.

Catching sight of her first, Blair swiftly flew up out of her seat across from Emily out of esteemed respect for the Princess Charm School instructor, before Delancy, as well, followed suit upon noticing the older woman, as well.

She, like Blair, clearly, had also always held Alexandra Privet within the highest regard throughout the years, whether or not the woman in question had ever been aware. And given Delancy's once habitual nature to be far less than courteous towards others, even including her, at times, it was highly unlikely.

Still, having shared the palace grounds with her, even if not within immediate, similar dwellings (and thus, quite honestly very rarely crossed paths with the woman), Delancy couldn't help but to revere the avidly confident, conscientious, and authoritative, yet kind headmistress.

In truth, she had sort of become an individual she had hoped to model herself after, once she had become princess of Gardania . . . even if, in furthered truth, she did not really know all too much about her beyond her Princess Charm School persona.

Little did Delancy, and indeed, Blair, know, that was soon all about to change. . . .

"Headmistress Privet! Good mor – N-No, afternoon! Mom, Emily, you remember Headmistress Privet from last night's festivities, don't you? I really can't possibly thank her enough for all of the help she'd given me throughout the entire charm school semester! Otherwise, I probably wouldn't even be here right now!" Blair rambled within esteemed adoration for the respectable woman, who slowly continued to approach the quartet of women within the usual air of collected calm and elegance.

Although, the longer Blair, and also Delancy, continued to look upon the traditionally tightly bun haired, blazer and long skirt attired brunette, the more they each began to sense that something was perhaps a little off about her, even through the normal execution of serenity she typically exuded.

"Ah, yes, of course we do, Blair! It really had been a pleasure to have made your acquaintanceship the previous evening, Headmistress Privet. Wasn't it, Emily?" Ellen said with a small smile of appreciation towards the other older woman and her evidently generous tutorial efforts for her eldest daughter, watching within the corner of her eye as her youngest slowly nodded within momentary timidness, before taking her hand and lifting the two of them out of their seats, as well.

Headmistress Privet, whose hands were clasped (a bit tightly, her former students did manage to take notice of) behind her midnight colored back, calmly raised one before her, signaling for her fellow brunettes to stop what they were doing.

"Always a pleasure, indeed, Ms. Willows, and to you, Miss Emily. But, please, no need to rise on my account – Any of you, as I don't anticipate staying for very long," she soothingly revealed within the usual, lacy foreign accent she possessed, and a small smile upon her wheat colored countenance. "As it seems as though you have all concluded within your meal, I wonder if it would be at all possible to have a word with Princess Sophia and Viscountess Delancy for a moment? I shall do my best not to keep them for too long, of course."

At this, Emily curiously began to giggle softly to herself, before immediately beginning to blush once she'd realized that all eyes, including that of the small sea of palace attendants all around her, were now upon her.

"O-Oh! Sorry! It's just that . . . it's still a little bit weird to hear Blair be referred to as her unexpected royal title, and birth name," she explained quietly, lightly tucking her brown colored head down a bit within furthered abashment.

Headmistress Privet merely smiled kindly towards the petite girl within response, while Ms. Willows gently squeezed the child's shoulders in comfort, and both Blair and Delancy already made their way around the large dining table to meet their former instructor.

"Take all the time you need, Headmistress Privet, please. I think after this, perhaps Emily and I might do a bit of exploring around the palace, if that is all right with everyone, that is," Ellen replied within politeness, pulling a still lightly blushing Emily towards her within motherly protectiveness.

Headmistress Privet appeared to be momentarily conflicted by the other woman's announcement, as her soft brown eyebrows then furrowed a bit, before she slowly cleared her throat.

"Ah, yes . . . but of course. After all, this is your home now, as well. Do enjoy yourselves," she said, just as tardily, before flashing the pair in question a faint smile. She then turned her attention back onto Delancy and Blair, who continually waited at her side within silence. "Now, then! Shall we, girls?"

Both Princess Charm School graduates simultaneously nodded before obediently following after the school's headmistress, giving a brief wave of goodbye towards the remaining Willows women as they did so.

Once the trio had promptly exited the dining hall, the palace's attendants beginning to do so, themselves, as well, Ellen then let out an abrupt exhale as she carefully leaned forward and gazed upon her remaining daughter at her side.

"Well! Shall we, then, Honey?" she asked with cheerful optimism, which nearly rivaled that of Emily's habitual own.

Emily instantly began to beam from ear to ear, before nodding eagerly.

"Uh huh! I've been dying to check out the rest of the palace for ages, now! Let's go!" she replied excitedly, tightly seizing her mother's right hand and quickly, yet somehow at the same time, gingerly led her out of the now empty dining hall.

End of Chapter One

---

(A.N. Yeah, was going to continue after here, but figured, at twenty-eight pages, and who the heck knows if anyone even read it, I thought I'd just leave it here, as a sort of cliffhanger of sorts. Looking forward to doing more Miss Privet scenes, though, as the following chapter shall begin with, so that should be fun. And yeah, I know that her accent is of the English nature, okay, but keeping with the slight 'unknown' format the movie sort of seemed to establish, what with 'Gardania' being a country/kingdom, and all of these other unknown kingdoms coming into play for the other princesses, I thought that I wouldn't necessarily cite her accent, and merely refer to it as 'foreign.' At least, 'foreign' by comparison to the ones majority of the citizens of Gardania possess, themselves, anyhow.

Anyway, a lot a lot was covered in this chapter, clearly 93% of it being manifested by me, yeah, but then, I'd already stated that I intend to flesh out a lot of the movie's characters, both major and minor, and create or add onto each of their back-stories. And as for Blair's mom, seeing as her 'illness' or 'injury' never was actually named, although Blair did pass mention to how 'she should be better by now,' thus making it a potentially short lived affliction, I thought I'd just give her a herniated disc in her back as the culprit. And seeing as majority of similar cases tend to usually heal on their own in time, on average, between six to twelve weeks or so, blah blah, I figured that that would place the time line for perhaps when Ellen had to stop working and Blair had to start in her stead, in addition to when she perhaps would have gone off to college somewhere, and also when the charm school was set to open.

So...yeah. Think around beginning of July Ellen had the accident, Blair took over and has been seeking treatment for her mother and also taking over the 'save enough money for a better home' dream, and then around two months later in September, when the charm school semester would begin – In my story/mind, anyway lol – that's when, surprise, surprise, Blair's entry gets chosen to attend, etc. And again, now, with the better environment, like Blair said, her mom's sure to get better a lot faster, as well, with the fresh air, much better food, better rest (and yes, treatment, of course). =) Of course, now, that hardly matters, since none of them need to work...ever...again. Lol

What else, what else...oh. I know that cutey-face Delancy might seem so...squishy now, within an emotionally vulnerable sense, by comparison to the "Suck it!", headstrong attitude she'd possessed within the actual movie. I suppose so. LoL But, honestly, as I'd written within the actual tale, here, a lot, a LOT a lot of emotionally jarring things had happened, and in just one day's time, at that. And couple that with seventeen years of the same routine, prior, with everything pretty much being set in stone and a less-than-perfect or ideal mother, however was still her mother, nonetheless, suddenly and openly turning on her before being carded away, and...yeah. I suspect ANYONE would honestly crumble under the weight of its overall magnitude, really.

Still. I'm having a lot of fun with remolding this 'top 3 fave characters within the movie' gal. =)

Anyhow, I'd touch upon the rest of the things I'd created/added into their overall 'universe,' but honestly, after twenty-eight pages, I just can't. LoL And again, I doubt anyone read it, or at least all the way through. If you had, however, my thanks to you, and please to be trusting me/my train of thought with this overall tale! Thanks!

And, of course, stay tuned for the following chapter, with more of 'everyone's' favorite, Miss Privet!)